Image
It is now a legal requirement for electors to present an approved type of photo ID to polling station staff before they can be issued a ballot paper.
Valid forms of ID include a UK passport, driving licence, blue badge, older person’s bus pass, a disabled person’s bus pass and more. A full list of accepted IDs can be found on the council’s website. An expired eligible photo ID will be accepted so long as the photographs is still a good likeness of the holder.
Registered voters who wish to vote at a polling station but do not have an accepted photo ID can apply for a free voter ID called a Voter Authority Certificate
The deadline to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate is 5pm this Wednesday (26 June). The quickest and easiest way to apply is online at www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate.
Alternatively, voters can contact North Somerset Council’s elections team by calling 01934 634 909 or emailing electoral.services@n-somerset.gov.uk.
With polling day now just over a week away, more postal vote packs will be hitting doormats this week. Registered voters who have a postal vote are being urged to return their packs as soon as possible.
There are now three parliamentary constituencies in the North Somerset area: North Somerset, Weston-super-Mare and part of the new Wells and Mendip Hills constituency.
Voters in the Wells and Mendip Hills constituency will receive their postal vote packs from, and should return them to, Somerset Council.
Postal votes issued by North Somerset Council can be handed in at the Town Hall or a polling station, but there have been changes in the law, as Nicholas Brain, North Somerset Council’s Returning Officer, explains:
“If you choose to return your postal vote by hand, you must physically hand it to an officer authorised to receive them and complete a short ‘return of postal voting documents’ form – this is a legal requirement.
“To return your postal vote at the Town Hall in Weston-super-Mare, please ask at reception between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, and a member of the elections team will come and meet you with the form for you to complete.
“Or you can return your postal vote to a polling station between 7am and 10pm on the day of the election, Thursday 4 July. Polling station staff will give you the form to complete. You can find your nearest polling station at https://wheredoivote.co.uk/.
“By law, any postal votes that are just left at a polling station or council office, without a completed form will be rejected. You can now only hand in your own postal vote and the postal vote of up to five other voters.”
Find out more about voting in General Election 2024 at www.n-somerset.gov.uk/ge2024.